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Americans this weekend will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the poem that became the nation’s national anthem, a bit of verse written by a pro-slavery lawyer put to the melody of a British song that praised drinking and sex. Oh, say what? Yes, the song that has been the nation's musical glue through war and peace, the song that has been the bane of singers of all ages and creeds and led to performances both tragic and mesmerizing, and the song lip-synced by zealous fans at sports events near and wide, yes, that song is celebrating a milestone birthday. For the area around Baltimore, the birthplace of the anthem, the celebration is a major tourist draw, prompting...

Related "War of 1812" Articles

Americans this weekend will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the poem that became the nation’s national anthem, a bit of verse written by a pro-slavery lawyer put to the melody of a British song that praised drinking and sex.
Oh, say what?
Yes,...

A guest of political importance and an authority on American history is set to visit the area in the near future, and the public is invited. Anderson's Bookshop presents Lynne Cheney, author or co-author of a dozen books, and the wife of former vice...

Storms at sea play a key role in the tale of John Jacob Astor's attempt to establish a pivotal trading center on the unsettled, little-known northern Pacific Coast in the early 19th century. Yet few modern readers have ever been in a fragile wooden...

As about 50 eighth-graders from New Jersey gathered around, Elizabeth White unzipped a large duffel bag.
"It's coiled like a big snake in there," said White, a park ranger.
The students helped remove the object. It was indeed moving but not in...

Chances are excellent that if you take in a parade for the Fourth of July, you'll see someone on stilts sporting the patriotic garb of Uncle Sam. Chances are equally excellent that your primary visual association of Sam comes from artist and illustrator...

The old melody started as an English tavern song that began To Anacreon in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee.
Later, it was used in an American campaign song that began Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought.
And later still, amateur poet Francis...

We take for granted that the democratic or republican forms of government are inevitable and natural, that they are the best way to govern, and certainly far ahead of whatever comes in second.
If so, then, how do you explain:
Illinois? Chicago? The...

Jill Raci, a teacher at Goodrich School in Woodridge School District 68, has been selected as an NEH Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of twenty-one NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops. The National Endowment...

The independent nonprofit Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, 3001 Central St., Evanston, will offer free admission to active-duty members of the U.S. military and their immediate families from May 28 to September 1 as part of the national Blue Star...

In "The Son," Philipp Meyer's sprawling multigenerational saga about a powerful Texas family, the author harvests the state's sad, passionate, often violent history, from its origins as an embattled republic to its present-day condition as an...

Science reporter Abby Olena was writing about researchers hunting microplastics in Lake Michigan. The Tribune photo desk separately sought to photograph a flotilla of tall ships inbound for Chicago.
As it happened, a group of collaborating scientists was...

Before “American Gothic” and his other paintings, artist Grant Wood left his mark at the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Wood, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, designed a 24-foot stained-glass window for the memorial, which was dedicated in...

PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — Midwesterners aren't likely to consider northern Ohio a war zone, but in the War of 1812 it certainly was. To this day, remnants of the Battle of Lake Erie remain here on South Bass Island, due east of Toledo.
In the Perry's Victory...

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario — The word "Niagara" might reflexively make you think "Falls." Not far from that majestic wall of water, though, is another Niagara worth more than the cursory snapshot on a honeymoon road trip.
It's a...

Susan Kelly Power was 17 when she boarded a train to Chicago, a place that seemed a world away from the Indian reservation she grew up on in North and South Dakota. In the 70 years since she left her family's home on the Standing Rock Sioux...

Driving north toward Wisconsin, McHenry says you are almost there. But it is more than the roadside sunglasses hut and signs offering wintertime boat storage — it's the Wisconsin-like essence. Fifty-five miles northwest of the Loop, this is a town...

The soldiers and civilians holed up in Fort Dearborn already were jittery before the orders to evacuate arrived. A recent Indian attack to the west had sent settlers fleeing to the safety of the wooden stockade on the south bank of the Chicago...

Art hardly ever comes up as a campaign issue in presidential elections.But once voters decide, the artistic tastes of the first family become well known from the pieces they choose to adorn the White House.Barack Obama has long taken pride in his artistic...

Location: The central region of Frederick County. Mount Airy is to the east, Middletown is to the west and Emmitsburg lies to the north.
Average property listing price: Frederick properties run $227,443 for attached homes and $304,304 for...

Through its partnership with Under Armour, Maryland’s football team has sported different, unique and creative uniforms during the past several years.
On Saturday, the Terps will wear something new, a mostly white uniform with gold helmets intended to...